Allyssa Schoenemann
Hometown: Lake Grove, NY
Program: TESOL – Graduate
Destination: Germany
Grant type: English Teaching Assistantship
What is the goal of your Fulbright experience?
My goal for my Fulbright experience is to promote a positive cultural and pedagogical exchange between the United States and Germany. Similar to what the students will experience when I assist them in a classroom (as a native speaker) the language of English, I would like to go to Germany to be immersed and achieve a higher level of German language proficiency.
Why did you apply to Fulbright?
Ever since my family befriended a German family in 1997 through the Internet — my family and their family had the same last name, but we are not related — I have always had an interest in the German language and culture. Additionally, I have had a drive for travel and exploration. Sadly, with some of my physical limitations, I have not been able to travel around the world as much as I would have liked to do so. I thought about signing up for a study abroad program during my undergraduate degree. However, I wished to finish my undergraduate degree in Special Education and Secondary English Language Arts as soon as possible. Now, with a teaching certification under my belt, I felt that, during my graduate studies, it would be the perfect time to sign up for a Study abroad program. An English professor of mine at my undergraduate college spoke to me about the Fulbright program. I immediately researched the program and was entranced by its mission. Thus, I stated to myself that when I was comfortably settled in my graduate degree, that I would apply for the program. And here I am!
Is there any other thought or comment you’d like to share about your Fulbright plans or hopes?
I hope that my Fulbright experience will demonstrate that students with particular limitations (I have physical limitations due to dwarfism) are able to strive and accomplish pedagogical endeavors similarly or exactly the way in which a grantee without limitations is able to accomplish specific grant goals.
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